roll of the dice
by coffee-not-decaf
Summary: A series of chance encounters occur.


"Whoa, sorry there, mate!" Merlin was broken out of a reverie of daydreams about how nice it would be to collapse into his bed and sleep for sixteen hours after a particularly grueling shift at the hospital when he collided into a moving, breathing body as he hopped off his Tube stop.

He reached his arms out to straighten the body, and his hands found firm biceps covered by a suit jacket, and looking across, Merlin found that his accidental assault had been on a particularly handsome man with a fringe of blond hair and bright blue eyes.

"S'fine, don't worry about it," Merlin received a crooked smile that he liked so much he felt violated.

They passed each other by without another word, the blond man onto the train and Merlin off it, and Merlin felt himself smiling at the cliché of momentary love on public transportation. It was a pleasant feeling, even though he was sure he would never see the bloke again.

Nice to be reminded that random, good things could still happen and not everything was entirely hopeless.

* * *

"Grande cappuccino to go, please and thanks," Merlin pushed a few bills toward the cashier at the coffee shop, and was rewarded with a frothing cup of delicious energy. God, he needed this. All he was recently was tired. He blamed Gaius and his supposed "favoritism" toward Merlin – favoritism that resulted in having the night shift three days in a row followed up by one this afternoon.

He stepped away from the counter and was about to head toward the door and out into the bright morning sunshine that was sure to burn away his retinas when he heard a somewhat familiar voice behind him say "Black coffee."

Merlin looked back, frowning and trying to place the voice. He had definitely heard it somewhere before, but for the life of him, he couldn't place it.

The back of a perfectly combed blond head turned to meet his eyes at the exact moment, and Merlin placed him the second he saw his face.

"Hey, it's the guy from the Tube that I nearly steamrolled!" Merlin's greeting was perhaps too enthusiastic, also very specific, and he resisted the urge to blush as the guy gave him a once-over. He probably wouldn't remember Merlin – after all, it had been a little under a week since their momentary meeting. But Merlin grinned when he saw the man's eyes widen in recognition.

"Hey, it's the guy that nearly killed me!" The man said jokingly, or at least Merlin hoped it was jokingly. He took his own coffee from the counter, sliding away until he was only a few feet from Merlin, who grinned at him.

"What are the chances?" Merlin asked. He bit his lip as he took in the man's appearance again. His attractiveness had not diminished even slightly. "I can see I didn't cause any serious injury."

"You're in luck," the man said, his smile half a smirk. "I might've had to press charges if you managed anything worse."

"I'm glad you're okay, then," Merlin said. "Would've hated to waste my money."

"I can see you're very concerned with the human condition," the man was obviously amused, and Merlin got a real, genuine smile out of him. He ignored the way that made his veins run with something other than blood.

Merlin considered his chances in pursuing a flirtation, but a quick glance at his watch turned his thoughts in an entirely different direction.

"Shit, I'm late," he looked apologetically over at the man, who frowned at him in a way that was not cute, not even a little bit, Merlin really couldn't think about this right now, he had ten minutes to get to the hospital before Gaius flayed him alive. "Glad that there won't be any charges against me for involuntary manslaughter."

The man's lips twisted upward into a small grin. "I didn't get your name."

"Merlin," he replied with ease as he walked backward, pressing himself against the coffee shop's door while still remaining having eye contact with the man. "And you are?"

"Arthur," the man responded, and Merlin suddenly found he had a new favorite name."

"See you around, Arthur," he said as he slipped out the door.

* * *

Merlin held no misconceptions about ever seeing the bloke again. London was a large city, the chances of running into one another a third time were even slimmer than their second chance encounter. Still, Arthur was something he could smile about when life was shit, which was becoming a common occurrence as of late.

And because Gwen was a social worker who was friends with seemingly everyone in the entire city, one Saturday night that was supposed to spent watching crap television in his tiny flat and crashing before ten, he was stuck at a charity gala shaking hands and making small talk with Gwen's legions of friends and coworkers.

"Merlin, come over here, I want to introduce you to a friend of mine!" Gwen called from across the bar, gesturing Merlin to her somewhat violently. She was obviously quite excited, nearly glowing – events like these were her element. Her pleasure at how the gala was occurring was evident.

For this reason alone, Merlin resisted the urge to drown in the free alcohol that was provided, and instead heeded her beck and call.

Her hand coiled around his wrist the moment he arrived at her side, fingernails digging into his skin in a way that would have been painful if Merlin hadn't developed a high tolerance for Gwen-isms over the years.

"Merlin, this is Morgana," Gwen said, turning to her left as she dragged Merlin along with her. Merlin was met by a very pretty woman with pale skin and a sheath of dark hair, a long and slinky dress matching it perfectly. "She works with underprivileged children in the city."

"Nice to meet you," Merlin broke free of Gwen's grip to shake Morgana's hand. She smiled up at him demurely.

"Gwen's been telling me about you," Morgana's voice was sultry and smooth, although not overly flirtatious, so Merlin assumed Gwen had already told her he was gay. "Nice to finally make your acquaintance."

"Yours as well," Merlin said with utmost politeness, politeness which Gwen should really be more grateful for.

"Did you bring a date tonight?" Gwen asked conversationally, and Morgana responded with a sigh and a slight roll of her eyes.

"Just my brother," she shook her head before turning away from them for a half a second with a call of "Arthur, stop binging on the free alcohol and get over here!"

A body swung into a view through the crowd and Merlin nearly did a double-take.

"No way," he laughed out loud at Arthur of the train station and the coffee kiosk, dressed in a tuxedo and on the arm of one of Gwen's friends. Arthur's face split into an incredulous gaze that Merlin would like to think of as excited. "No fucking way."

"I can't believe it," Arthur shook his head and started laughing as well, head thrown back and biting his finger to keep from being too loud. "This is getting ridiculous."

Gwen's face was adorably confused, and Morgana's mirrored it. "Do you two…know each other, then?"

"Not in so many words," Merlin told her with a smile. "This is our third happenstance meeting. I'm beginning to think this is less coincidental by the minute." He turned to Arthur teasingly. "Are you stalking me?"

"Hey, you're the one who bumped into me that first time, remember?" Arthur pointed out. "If anyone's the stalker here, it's you."

Morgana raised an eyebrow as the two of them dissolved into a fit of raucous laughter that made Merlin's heart speed up just a bit. "It feels like we're intruding upon a private moment here. Guinevere, if you would be so kind as to accompany me away from all this disgusting flirting?"

"I'd be glad to," Gwen said, taking her arm graciously, although Merlin barely blinked as they disappeared off into the crowded event hall.

"So, Arthur," Merlin said cheekily, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his suit jacket. "I think we can agree that this is no longer strange coincidence. And I'm taking your word on the fact that you aren't a stalker. So what game is the universe playing with us?"

Arthur gave a hapless shrug. "Who knows? Perhaps we're a part of a grand cosmic scheme."

"Destiny and fate in the making," Merlin nodded solemnly. "We could be meant to take over the world together. Bring the people of today into a glorious golden age."

"Or maybe I'm just meant to ask you out to dinner instead," Arthur tilted his head and raised an eyebrow, and Merlin felt as if there was something exploding somewhere inside of his chest.

"That could also be the case," Merlin allowed. He tried not to grin too much.


End file.
